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Garden Fresh Food

The last few days I have been parked on our bed with my laptop, reading about diet vs inflammation and considering the fate of not being able to eat whatever I want to eat, which sucks. My previous practitioner in Salt Lake City regularly exhorted me to take my prescribed supplements and detoxifying agents daily, eat an alkaline diet, abstain completely from offending foods including as gluten, sugar, chocolate, coffee, and alcohol, and pay attention to reducing intake of high histamine foods.

My camping week was great from the standpoint of getting away from electronics and WiFi and my cell phone. I went to bed at sundown and slept reasonably well. I even managed to control my diet to a good extent. But Saturday morning my digestive system revolted and I had several bouts of diarrhea that morning, with more on Sunday and Monday. This led to the thought that perhaps my spine was out of alignment from sleeping on the ground, as I didn’t eat much those days, so today I went to chiropractor for an adjustment, at a cost of $85 for a new patient visit. We talked about my health history and he suggested I return in a week with all of my supplements and we would attempt to come up with a regimen to address the fatigue and joint stiffness, the daily headaches and digestive disturbances, and the general feeling of “I feel so old…” His testing revealed inflammation in the small intestine and adrenal fatigue as the major areas of stress to my body. This last week has made me really zero in on what a healthy lifestyle for me might look like.

My studies have brought up some new information from a couple of years ago. There is an inflammation protocol that I think would be helpful in pinpointing what foods give me problems. In reviewing some of my journal entries from the past I am reminded of other aspects that should/could be part of a strong effort towards healing.

The AIP – Autoimmune Protocol (Paleo) recommends the following dietary restrictions be followed for 30 to 90 days (sometimes longer) to reduce gut inflammation:

It’s August and my garden is full of ripening tomatoes. Strawberry season is in full swing. I love yogurt and miss coffee.

In looking at the above list, for right this moment I can commit to the following steps for the next few days:

No Gluten

No Grains (including oats and quinoa)

No Eggs

No Chocolate

I can work on reducing fruit and sugar intake

No coffee and very minimal alcohol

When the block of cheese in the fridge is gone it won’t be replaced

Yes to taking my supplements better

Yes to getting into my head and writing/journaling more about the stress and anxiety

Yes to better sleep

I am planning to eat what is growing in my garden and enjoy it, tomatoes and peppers and all. Right this moment I am not planning to stop eating yogurt or kefir, nor am I going to cease eating the cashew nut dressing that JB and I like so well.

For dinner we made stir fry with butter, garden fresh zucchini and onions, with a healthy helping of garlic and a piece of yellow bell pepper that was hanging out in the fridge. I made coleslaw with chopped apple, celery, and half a head of cabbage picked out of the garden. The dressing was made this way:

COLESLAW DRESSING

3 Tablespoons white sugar

2 Tablespoons lemon juice (I used bottled)

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1 big squirt of Wasabi

1/4 cup of our cashew nut dip

1/4 cup Miracle Whip

As you can see, the dressing is not a good choice for the AIP diet but when I make it again I will reduce the vinegar, lemon juice, and sugar and increase the ratio of nut dip to Miracle Whip to improve it.